LPWAN - Licensed vs. Unlicensed

Bill Kramer, VP Advanced Technology

08/30/2017

Traditional M2M solutions have traditionally remained on 2G and 3G technologies, primarily due to the fact that high cost LTE options used to be the only LTE options. Similarly, several newer IoT use cases have been slower to adopt due to this same issue. Because of this cost barrier, many unlicensed spectrum options (SigFox, LoRa and RPMA) have entered the market dominating market share of new IoT solutions requiring low power, longer range and long battery life. However, with the introduction of new licensed spectrum LTE technologies (LTE-M and NB-IoT) that have eliminated the cost barrier, the trend in the market is shifting.

In selecting which technology is the best fit for your IoT solution, there are several factors that should be considered:

The table below gives a brief comparison of the licensed and unlicensed spectrum technology option and how they stack up in each of these areas.

Licensed Spectrum

Unlicensed Spectrum

LTE-M

NB-IoT

SigFox

LoRa

RPMA

Coverage

160 dB

164 dB

149 dB

157 dB

177 dB

Bandwidth

1 MHz

180 KHz

100 Hz

125 KHz

1 MHz

Battery Life

10+ years

10+ years

10+ years

10+ years

10+ years

Throughput

1 Mbps

250 Kbps

100 bps

290bps-50Kbps

624 Kbps

2 Way Data TX

Yes

Yes

No

Depends

Yes

Security

3GPP (128-256 bit)

3GPP (128-256 bit)

16 bit

32 bit

AES 128 bit

Scalability

High

High

Low

Medium

High

Mobility Support

Connected & Idle mode

Idle mode

No

Yes

Yes

LBS Support

Requires GPS

Requires GPS

No

Yes

Requires GPS

Module Cost

$10

$5

$2

$12

$12

LTE-M is likely the strongest candidate for migrating legacy 2G and 3G M2M devices as well as for new applications that require higher bandwidth but with lower power consumption to extend battery life. NB-IoT is a lower cost alternative to LTE-M and while it supports lower bandwidth, it does not support voice and has slower cell-tower handoff which will make it unsuitable for solutions requiring high mobility support. These licensed spectrum alternatives are likely to dominate IoT solutions between now and 2023 due to MNO adoption making their coverage superior. However, there is still no clear victor for many use cases and each technology has a potential fit that will boil down to the specific requirements of your IoT solution.

Companies seeking to adopt IoT solutions, or those with legacy 2G or 3G IoT solutions, should first make sure that they understand what network options are available in the desired coverage area, and how long those options will be supported. The superior choice will be dependent on each business’s unique circumstances, which can include specific IoT applications, the length of product lifecycles, or the level of difficultly in accessing devices.

Contact KORE to learn more about how we can simplify your IoT solution selection, design, development, deployment, and managed support.